For content creators who leverage the regulatory requirements of the GDPR to refine their customer data-gathering processes and create—or rebuild—trust that such data will be used only to the customer's benefit, the byproduct should be more satisfied, more trusting, and more engaged customers. And that's a worthy goal on either side of the Atlantic.

January/February 2011 Issue

News Features

Every once in awhile a story comes along that allows us to see how the wonders of modern technology can help us better understand and preseve our past. One such story hit the wire back in December when Gale, a part of Cengage Learning and McMaster University announced an agreement that allowed Gale to digitize McMaster University's collection of materials related to the Holocaust, propaganda, and the Jewish underground resistance movement during World War II.

2010 was a landmark year for the ebook industry. In July, Amazon announced that it was doing more trade in ebooks than in hardcovers, selling 143 digital editions for every 100 hardcovers sold. Then, in October, the Association of American Publishers and the International Digital Publishing Forum released figures showing a 250% increase between 3Q 2010 and the same time period the previous year.

As a mathematical genius in A Beautiful Mind, Russell Crowe used analytics to assist the government in breaking Soviet codes. While it may not be as exciting as top-secret informant assignments, the analytics industry is expected to take on a lead role in 2011 as businesses embrace its capabilities. The IDC says it expects the global market for analytics software to grow from $25.5 billion in 2010 to $34 billion by the end of 2014.

Featured Stories

Consider the value if you could learn about the world around you based on where you are using the GPS capability in your smartphone. Imagine for a minute holding up your phone and having relevant content delivered to you based on your physical location at any given moment. There are complex and useful applications of the location dynamic beyond simply communicating "I'm here."

In October, The Wall Street Journal reported that several popular Facebook applications had been transmitting users' personal identifying information to literally dozens of advertising and internet tracking companies. While Facebook maintains that there is "no evidence that any personal information was misused or even collected as a result of this issue," not all observers have been appeased.

Columns

I bought an e-reader recently. Late to the party, eh? It isn't that I haven't longed for one for some time now. The issue for me has been that, given the number of them on the market and rapid pace of change, I couldn't commit. The feature set I want never seems to coincide on a single device, and every time I think I've compromised and settled on one that's good enough, well, market leaders and innovators alike improve on what's out there or introduce some game changer.

After a year of hand-wringing about how digital users must "learn to start paying for their content," we appear to be moving to a healthier and more mature place where publishers are starting to internalize, rather than externalize, the media revenue problem. At a recent conference that I organized for digital media strategies, publishers who are successfully selling content directly to businesses and consumers challenged their peers with a straightforward proposition.

One day last October, we looked up and-unbelievably-the Rangers had made it to the hallowed World Series. These underdogs' day had come: They were finally the big dogs. Today, the same has come true with content. For most of my life, content has been limited to a handful of sources: a radio, a book, a TV. But now, content has become limitless in the ways that it dominates our lives.

No discussion on content management product selection is complete before the topic of "suites" versus "best of breed" comes up. Almost everyone wants to know which route they should take. Unfortunately, it is seldom as simple as choosing one route over the other. It's one of those questions that unfortunately requires the far less satisfying response: "It depends ..."

Case Studies

Our Energy Policy sought a way to develop a collaborative community around one lengthy document. Bill Squadron, president of OurEnergyPolicy.org, describes the situation by saying, "What we needed to do was find a platform where we could place a proposition in front of a large group of knowledgeable participants in the energy field," to democratize the policymaking process.